Self-service Systems Performance Evaluation and Improvement Model

Abstract. The paper analyses the topic of service system productivity and profitability. Main focus of the research is self-service area, namely, the increase of ATM network productivity. Paper presents performance evaluation of self-service systems and improvement model for its increasing profitability. This model combines internal and external quality criteria and provides detailed understanding of the main components of productivity evaluation and methods. Using the model it is possible to create evaluation and improvement tools for increasing productivity of self-service systems. Experimental result shows that using the developed productivity model, ANN method and optimization procedure, productivity of ATM cash management could be increased by approximately 33 percent

Logistic analysis of economic cycles

Dynamic processes, vibrations and fluctuations are the phenomena which usually accompany the development of various populations. Economic populations are no exception: capital, investments, GDP, and others. Their dynamics is connected with rather sharp fluctuations – rise and decline. Although the regularity of these fluctuations is not strictly determined, they are nevertheless considered to be periodical. The frequency of such fluctuations might be measured by nano or microhertz. It is becoming clear that basic principles of the theory of fluctuations might be applied to the research of the economic cycles. Up until today no one has provided an explanation as to why the development of economics is cyclic. While researching the peculiarities of the economic development (especially the growth phases), these reasons have been enumerated – the new economic laws have been discovered while analysing the phenomenon of financial saturation. It appears that economics is experiencing the revival (the so-called “economic resonance” or a boom) due to the saturation of the economic area (the markets) with the invested capital. Seeking the stability of the economic development, it is important to reorient the research methods from compound to simple percentage (interest). The alteration of the research instruments requires their constant updating and refinement, it also permits to achieve higher results. This article presents the economic logistic model of growth, displays its universality and potential to increase the economic harmony. The example of data analysis provided in the article visualizes the growth process under investigation

Logistic analysis of economic cycles

Dynamic processes, vibrations and fluctuations are the phenomena which usually accompany the development of various populations. Economic populations are no exception: capital, investments, GDP, and others. Their dynamics is connected with rather sharp fluctuations – rise and decline. Although the regularity of these fluctuations is not strictly determined, they are nevertheless considered to be periodical. The frequency of such fluctuations might be measured by nano or microhertz. It is becoming clear that basic principles of the theory of fluctuations might be applied to the research of the economic cycles. Up until today no one has provided an explanation as to why the development of economics is cyclic. While researching the peculiarities of the economic development (especially the growth phases), these reasons have been enumerated – the new economic laws have been discovered while analysing the phenomenon of financial saturation. It appears that economics is experiencing the revival (the so-called “economic resonance” or a boom) due to the saturation of the economic area (the markets) with the invested capital. Seeking the stability of the economic development, it is important to reorient the research methods from compound to simple percentage (interest). The alteration of the research instruments requires their constant updating and refinement, it also permits to achieve higher results. This article presents the economic logistic model of growth, displays its universality and potential to increase the economic harmony. The example of data analysis provided in the article visualizes the growth process under investigation

Testing Cost Containment of Future Healthcare with Maintained or Improved Quality—The COSTCARES Project

Increasing healthcare costs need to be contained in order to maintain equality of access to care for all EU citizens. A cross-disciplinary consortium of experts was supported by the EU FP7 research programme, to produce a roadmap on cost containment, while maintaining or improving the quality of healthcare. The roadmap comprises two drivers: person-centred care and health promotion; five critical enablers also need to be addressed: information technology, quality measures, infrastructure, incentive systems, and contracting strategies

Testing Cost Containment of Future Health Care with Maintained or Improved Quality – The COST CARES project Running title: Cost Containment of Future Health Care

Abstract Background Increasing healthcare costs need to be contained in order to maintain equality of access to care for all EU citizens. A cross‐disciplinary consortium of experts was supported by the EU FP7 research programme, to produce a roadmap on cost containment, while maintaining or improving the quality of healthcare. The roadmap comprises two drivers: person‐centred care and health promotion; five critical enablers also need to be addressed: information technology, quality measures, infrastructure, incentive systems, and contracting strategies. Method In order to develop and test the roadmap, a COST Action project was initiated: COST−CARES, with 28 participating countries. This paper provides an overview of evidence about the effects of each of the identified enablers. Intersections between the drivers and the enablers are identified as critical for the success of future cost containment, in tandem with maintained or improved quality in healthcare. This will require further exploration through testing. Conclusion Cost containment of future healthcare, with maintained or improved quality, needs to be addressed through a concerted approach of testing key factors. We propose a framework for test lab design based on these drivers and enablers in different European countries

Investicijų rizikos vertinimas Lietuvos vertybinių popierių rinkoje

The article shortly presents the basic methods of modern investment and portfolio theory. We discuss the problem of CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model) and its use in Lithuania. The CAPM explained the relationship between the expected returns on risky assets and systematic risk. The risk premium on individual assets is proportional to the risk premium of the market portfolio (market indices) with proportional coefficient beta. The beta measures the extent to which returns on the asset respond to the returns of the market portfolio. In the paper we found the estimate of beta coefficients for some companies of Lithuanian stock market. We use unusual measure for the risky assets return. All calculations are fulfilled with "STATISTICA"

Veiksnių, turinčių įtakos kaupimo privačiuose pensijų fonduose efektyvumui, tyrimas

Currently Lithuania has an old-age pension system of three pillars. Unfortunately, when making an investment decision, too few factors are used that affect strategy effectiveness. It is necessary to develop tools to better assess the risks and more accurately simulate the potential long-term investment scenarios. The article deals with the investment strategy to the second and third pillar pension funds in order to maximize investment returns and reduce risks. A smart software tool allows you to simulate an accrual depending on the rate of return, the accumulation period, the level of contributions, the fund’s profitability and other factors. The study shows that using the Social Insurance Fund contributions, personal contributions and the state provided additives can accumulate significantly greater amounts of money than collecting only the second pillar pension funds contributions. For implementation of the proposed methodology it is necessary to ensure a minimum level of personal pension scheme members fundraising to the third pillar pension funds. On the other hand, the study revealed that in some cases investment to private pension funds can be useless. Private pension funds have become popular between unprofessional investors who don’t have sufficient knowledge. Research shows that financial institutions do not always provide the optimal proposals. Advanced software tools can help make better investment decisions. Commercial tools usually show potential profits of investment, but not always pay sufficient attention to potential risks. This article analyzes both good and bad investment scenarios.Tikslas. Šiuo metu Lietuvoje veikia trijų pakopų kaupimo senatvės pensijai sistema. Deja, sudarant pensijų kaupimo sutartis, įvertinama per mažai veiksnių, turinčių įtakos kaupimo strategijos efektyvumui. Straipsnio tikslas yra sukurti programinį įrankį, leidžiantį geriau įvertinti kaupimo riziką bei tiksliau modeliuoti galimus ilgalaikio kaupimo scenarijus. Metodologija. Straipsnyje nagrinėjama investavimo strategija į antros ir trečios pakopos pensijų fondus, siekiant maksimaliai padidinti investicijų grąžą ir sumažinti riziką. Sukurtu programiniu įrankiu modeliuojami įvairūs kaupimo scenarijai. Analizuojama kaupimo trukmės, įmokų į pensijų fondus dydžio, valdymo įmonių taikomų mokesčių, fondų pelningumo rodiklių įtaka sukauptai pinigų sumai. Keičiant šių veiksnių reikšmes tiriama, kokią įtaką jie daro kaupimo efektyvumui. Rezultatai. Tyrimas ir atliktas modeliavimas rodo, kad, panaudojant „Sodros“ įmokas, asmenines lėšas bei valstybės teikiamus priedus, galima sukaupti gerokai didesnes sumas nei investuojant tik į antros pakopos pensijų fondus. Siūlomos metodikos įgyvendinimui reikia užtikrinti bent minimalų asmeninių pensijos sistemos dalyvių lėšų pritraukimą į trečios pakopos pensijų fondus. Kita vertus, tyrimas atskleidė, kad tam tikrais atvejais kaupimas trečios pakopos pensijų fonduose gali būti nenaudingas. Praktinė reikšmė. Privatūs pensijų fondai tapo labai populiarūs tarp neprofesionalių investuotojų. Deja, finansų įmonės ne visuomet pateikia objektyvius pasiūlymus bei išsamią informaciją. Siūlomas programinis įrankis gali padėti priimti pelningą investicinį sprendimą. Originalumas/vertingumas. Finansų įmonių, kurios siūlo investuoti į privačius pensijų fondus, naudojamos skaičiuoklės ne visada pakankamai gerai įvertina investavimo riziką. Dažniausiai pateikiami optimistiniai scenarijai, kuriais vadovaujantis yra lengviau parduoti savo produktą. Šio tyrimo metu analizuojami tiek optimistiniai, tiek pesimistiniai scenarijai, padedantys susidaryti realų kaupimo naudingumo vaizdą. Tyrimo ribotumas. Jeigu investicijų grąža smarkiai svyruoja per investavimo laikotarpį, o įmokų dydis ir periodiškumas nepastovūs, tuomet vidutinės metinės grąžos naudojimas skaičiavimuose gali lemti netikslius rezultatus

Research of Factors Affecting Pension Funds Efficiency

Currently Lithuania has an old-age pension system of three pillars. Unfortunately, when making an investment decision, too few factors are used that affect strategy effectiveness. It is necessary to develop tools to better assess the risks and more accurately simulate the potential long-term investment scenarios. The article deals with the investment strategy to the second and third pillar pension funds in order to maximize investment returns and reduce risks. A smart software tool allows you to simulate an accrual depending on the rate of return, the accumulation period, the level of contributions, the fund’s profitability and other factors. The study shows that using the Social Insurance Fund contributions, personal contributions and the state provided additives can accumulate significantly greater amounts of money than collecting only the second pillar pension funds contributions. For implementation of the proposed methodology it is necessary to ensure a minimum level of personal pension scheme members fundraising to the third pillar pension funds. On the other hand, the study revealed that in some cases investment to private pension funds can be useless. Private pension funds have become popular between unprofessional investors who don’t have sufficient knowledge. Research shows that financial institutions do not always provide the optimal proposals. Advanced software tools can help make better investment decisions. Commercial tools usually show potential profits of investment, but not always pay sufficient  attention to potential risks. This article analyzes both good and bad investment scenarios